Come Home
by Kaasuten
Summary: What happens when the well is closed? When Kagome and Inuyasha are permanently separated by five hundred years? How do they cope? How do they move on? [Set during the three years that Kagome and Inuyasha were separated during The Final Act. Inspired by the song "Come Home" by OneRepublic. This will eventually fall right back into the anime when the well reopens.] [Completed]
1. Chapter 1

_**Hello world. Hope you're listening.**_

The familiar pull of the Bone Eater's Well tugged at his form as Inuyasha and Kagome slid from the darkening void and back towards the voices that were calling to them. Kagome's family had been so frantic to have her returned to them that the idea of first venturing to the Feudal Era had never crossed the hanyou's mind. Her family needed reassurance; their companions in the past _knew_ that Inuyasha would find her if it was the last thing he ever did.

Her hip was warm beneath his grasp as he held her tightly to his side. Loosing her to the Meido had convinced him of his desperate need to keep her near him. He would never let her out of his sight again.

Her body seemed to physically react to his touch, her head nuzzling into the crook of his neck. They _belonged_ together and she would never let him go again.

As they drifted through the vast expanse of time, the voices of her mother, brother and grandfather grew louder and clearer until suddenly they were sitting before the trio on the edge of the old wooden well.

Inuyasha could smell the tears rimming her eyes before they were even visible, reluctantly releasing his hold on her so that she could reunite with those who had raised her.

"Mama!" She cried out, launching herself from his side and into the loving and warm embrace of the woman who had given her life. The warmth in her mother's arms was so different from that of Inuyasha's and while she relished in her mothers touch, she longed to be back in his arms again.

The boy watched on with hope filled eyes, remembering the embraces shared with his own mother whenever he would get lost or wander too far from her sight. When the rest of the world had despised him, he could always rely on his mother's comfort and kindness. She had been taken from him _too_ soon.

If Kagome chose the Fuedal Era, would she often long for her mother's comfort? Or would he be enough? How long could the raven-haired girl continue to travel between times?

As if answering his unspoken question, the familiar tug of time travel spread through his body. "Kagome?" Her name fell from his lips, concern dripping from his every word.

Her head snapped to gaze at him as his body slowly began to descend into the well. He was being ripped from her time and hurtled back into his own. Her eyes widened, her arm stretching out to grab him as she flung her body towards the well to stop him from vanishing into thin air. "No! Inuyasha!"

Her agonizing cry ripped through him, cutting to the core. She wouldn't reach him in time; he knew it already. "Kagome!" He yelled, his own hand reaching for hers as his voice reverberated in the hollow silence of time travel.

The moment his feet hit the hard earth at the bottom of the well, the boy was off. His body launched upwards, reaching for the lip to pull himself out into the sunlight. It was blinding after so much time in darkness but he didn't bother taking time to adjust. He planted his feet firmly on the edge of the smooth wood and leapt back into the darkness. This time, however, the path did not open for him and he landed with a huff upon the cruel ground.

"No…" He breathed, a desperation lingering in his voice.

Over and over again he bounded out of the well and back again. Each time he reached the bottom, still trapped in his own time, another piece of him shattered. He _knew_. The moment he first landed upon the harsh earth after being ripped from her home he _knew_ that Kagome's time in the Feudal Era was finished. She had been thrown back into the world where she belonged.

Kagome was gone forever.

A feral wail ripped from deep within him, his fists hammering again and again into the harsh dirt beneath his knees. His knuckles split open, blood dripping into the unforgiving soil. Still, the pain of broken bones and torn flesh was nothing compared to the heartache of losing her.

Night spread, covering the forest with the same darkness that had filtered into Inuyasha's soul. His senses dulled by pain he didn't even realize that he was being watched.

"Inuyasha?" The small boy's voice was barely a whisper, his eyes wide as he peered down into the dark well at the hanyou below him. His eyes scanned the ground, searching for his surrogate mother. "Is Kagome…?"

The small boy's question was implied; was Kagome dead?

Shaking his head, Inuyasha leapt from the well. He didn't stop to console the boy or offer an explanation. "She's home now." He barely whispered as he pushed past the anxious fox demon. His body felt heavy, like he was carrying hundreds of bricks upon his shoulders, as he headed towards the village and left the child behind. "And she's not coming back."

 _ **Authors Note:**_ I hope you like this so far. Originally it was going to be a one shot; a back and forth about Kagome and Inuyasha's three years separated by the Sacred Jewel. I got the idea from the song "Come Home" by OneRepublic which is why each new posting will have italic song lyrics to go with it. I feel like this is too short to be a chapter and much too long to be a drabble so I've decided to post chabbles. (That's not really a word but whatever). The entire story is written already so its up to you lovelies how quickly you would like to read it all. I'll post something every Monday. But I'll also post once I receive three reviews on a chapter.

Please let me know what you think.

This chabble pretty much follows exactly what happens in the last episode of The Final Act but the rest will be my own take on what happened to the two during the three years they were separated.

Much love;

Kaasuten.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Forgive me if I'm young**_

"Kagome, dear," her mother cooed, pushing open the door and peering into the darkness of her daughter's bedroom. "I've made breakfast."

The raven-haired girl rolled away from the light now spilling through the doorway, burying her face in her oversized pillow. "I'm not hungry, Mama," she mumbled. Her eyes were red and puffy, her tears having been constant for the last two days.

"Why don't I call your friends? I'm sure they would love to come and see you." Her mother tried again, desperate for something to pull her child from the darkness that had consumed her.

"I don't feel like seeing anyone now." She whined, curling up into a ball beneath her blanket. She just wanted to be alone, she just wanted to cry, why couldn't her mother understand that?

Taking a deep breath her mother tried one final time. "He wouldn't want you to give in like this…" she whispered, mentioning the hanyou boy for the first time since he had been dragged back into his own era.

It was as if something had snapped inside of Kagome, a wail of anguish slipping over her lips as she curled into a tighter ball. Her small hands fisted around a small locket, identical to the one she had given to _him_ a long time ago. In it, she kept his picture as a permanent reminder of the impossible world she had been blessed to visit.

Closing the door behind her, Mrs. Higurashi heaved a heavy sigh. There was one absolute truth she had learned in her life; young love and tragedy always seemed to walk hand in hand.

 _ **Or speaking out of turn**_

"So whatever happened to that bad boy boyfriend of yours, Kagome?" Eri asked, innocently sipping at her milkshake.

It went unnoticed how Kagome's body stiffened, every muscle in her frame tensing at the mention of her lost love.

"Yeah, Kagome. We haven't seen him around in awhile." Ayumi agreed.

It felt like a chasm was opening in her chest, refreshing the wounds that forced themselves open every single day. For a long moment she was silent, her eyes closed as lithe fingers danced over the cool metal of the locket around her neck. "Six months." She breathed. "It's been six months."

"So he broke up with you then?" Yuka asked.

"That jerk!" Eri huffed. "I never liked him anyway."

As her friends bickered, Kagome recalled the last moments she had spent at Inuyasha's side. She could still feel his lips against hers, surrounded by the darkness of the Shikon Jewel. It was not a kiss of passion, or desperation, it was pure. It was an understanding of each other, a sincere euphoria that they had found each other again _alive._

She pressed light fingers to her lips. She could still feel him there, as if the kiss had been just moments ago and not half a year into the past.

"So?" Eri jostled Kagome out of her thoughts with a light nudge of her elbow. "He's really gone?"

Her bangs shadowed her eyes from view as Kagome bowed beneath the sadness. "Yeah," She breathed, "I knew it would never last… I just…"

"Hoped for the best?" Ayumi offered, reaching out and placing a gentle hand on Kagome's shoulder.

Kagome nodded her head, tears pooling in her eyes for the third time that day. Six months. Six months had passed and still she cried all the time. Every day her mother told her time would make her stronger and every day Kagome mourned the loss of her feudal family and the boy who had stolen her heart away.

"You were too good for him anyway, Kagome." Yuka offered, her own attempt at comfort.

This time, Kagome laughed. Tears slowly cascading down her alabaster cheeks. " _He_ was too good for _me."_

 **Authors / Note:** Thank you for the reviews! I'm glad you like my chabbles. I had a couple people send questions about how my updates work. Here's the answer: I will post a chapter every Monday. Most of this story is already written though so if you want an extra update each week I just need three reviews. After three I'll post the new chapter. Enjoy this one!

Much love;

Kaasuten


	3. Chapter 3

_**But there's someone I've been missing**_

He walked lazily through the dense foliage, breathing in the calming scents of dirt and greens. Every day he walked here. Every day he'd hold his breath as he drew closer to the Sacred Tree. It wasn't that he really expected her to be there waiting for him… but there was always a _chance._

As he turned a corner and the giant tree rose up to meet him, he could _see_ her. She was standing upon the large growth of root beneath where his body had once been sealed. With deft fingers she lightly traced the place where Kikyo's arrow had scarred the bark. Her movements were slow and intentional, as if she were trying to remember something long forgotten to her.

The wind shifted and so did the girl. Her gaze swaying as she brushed her hair behind her ear and made contact with his warm amber eyes. Momentarily she looked shocked before a wide smile lit up her porcelain features. Gently she raised her outstretched hand, beckoning him to come to her. He knew she wasn't real, and yet he took a step forward anyway. As soon as his body moved, her image vanished into nothing.

The soft mumblings she had whispered in the darkness of the Sacred Jewel repeated over and over again inside his mind.

" _I just wanted to see you."_

Kagome as an apparition was nothing new. Every so often he would see her taking solace under the tree, perched upon the well or lounging in the soft grass. His youkai was strong, and for now his demon half would preserve her in perfect clarity. Somewhere, hopefully far into his future, he would no longer remember the sound of her voice, the scent of her hair or the taste of her lips.

But for now, they were the memories that kept him sane.

Gently he leapt onto the root where his imaginary Kagome had once stood. His own calloused fingers traced the pattern of the scar. That moment, the moment that Kagome had trusted him to save her from Mistress Centipede, had forever changed him.

"I miss you," he spoke, allowing his vulnerability to seep through him as he placed his hand flat upon the tree. "Please be safe."

And as if in answer, her innocent laughter echoed in his mind and a soft, warm breeze blew his hair in a gentle tug.

 _ **And I think that they could be the better half of me**_

"Ye have sure done a lot of growing up, child." Kaede mused, smiling appreciatively as the anxious hanyou picked herbs from her garden for her.

"Feh." Inuyasha huffed, wiping sweat from his forehead with the back of his arm. "I ain't doing this for you."

Kaede hid a knowing smile behind a cough. Inuyasha was looking for busy work; anything to keep him out of the forest and away from his sorrows. Assisting Kaede in her Priestess' responsibilities helped him feel closer to the tiny Miko who had been taken from them. "Ye need to be gentler." Kaede chastised him as he roughly pulled a root from the ground, snapping it in half and completely ruining it.

Inuyasha simply rolled his eyes, easing his touch to protect the herbs he was harvesting.

"I know ye do not wish to speak of Kagome," Kaede began, noticing how the boy flinched, almost violently, at the sound of her name.

He felt as if the Old Priestess had run him through with a burning blade. Ten months. _Ten months_ and no one had dared so much as even whisper her name around him. The night that he and Shippo returned to the village had been spent in hushed whispers and speculation that Kagome's time in their era had simply run out. Inuyasha vowed to never stop trying to bring her back, Shippo cried and Sango wept, too, while Miroku offered a prayer that the Gods would grant their dearest friend the life and happiness she deserved.

And no one spoke of her again; for his sake.

"But _I_ see her." Kaede finished, nodding her head in contentment.

"What the hell are you talking about, old woman?" Inuyasha growled, forcing a rougher gruffness into his voice to hide the pain that was lingering there. "Ka-" he chocked on her name, unable to speak it out loud or maybe he just didn't want to share it with the others. "She ain't here and she ain't coming back."

"I did not mean I literally could see her. I mean I _see_ her. There." Kaede lifted an old hand, pointing one long finger at Inuyasha's chest.

The hanyou blinked back his confusion, irritation rising from deep within him. What sick game was she playing with him? "I ain't a woman, wench."

"No," she laughed sadly. "Ye are not. But she has changed ye, boy. Her kindness and her purity have muted your previous incorrigibility."

"Incorriga-what?" His brow furrowed.

"Ye have been tamed, pup." Kaede smirked. "She is in ye heart, boy. She has made ye a stronger demon and a better human."

"You're losing your mind, old woman." He growled, throwing the basket of harvested goods down at her feet. He was done with her for the day. But as he turned to walk away, the breeze picked up, his constant reminder that Kagome was somewhere out there thinking of him, too.

 _She made me a better_ _ **man**_. He thought, lifting his face to greet the comforting midday breeze.

 **Author's / Notes:**

 **Discord1:** Yes, I did come up with the world Chabble. These are too short to be a chapter and too long to be a drabble so.. they're a middle ground! :D I'm glad you like the way I've been writing the characters. I hope you continue to enjoy them.

 **Animercom** : EXACTLY! That was what I was going for. I'm glad you picked up on that. I hope this continues to meet your expectations.

Again, thank you all for taking the time to review! I'm actually going to an anime convention this weekend (DRESSED AS A FEMALE INUYASHA! I built a seven foot tetsusaiga and everything! :3) So I won't be posting again until Monday. Enjoy this chabble for now!

Much love;

Kaasuten


	4. Chapter 4

_**They're in the wrong place tryin' to make it right**_

Kagome bit down on the eraser at the end of her pencil, anxiously trying to make sense of the math problem scrawled out upon the paper in front of her.

 _I never thought I would prefer fighting demons to homework_. Kagome thought, chuckling ironically to herself as she erased all of her errors and scrap work, resolved to begin the problem again.

"Studying for exams?"

Her gaze snapped up, meeting kind eyes and a warm, familiar face. "Oh, Hojo." She smiled, the light not quite reaching her eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"The boy's schools use the library, too, Higurashi." He teased, grinning down at her as he leaned lightly against the nearest bookshelf.

"I guess I forgot." She breathed, blowing her overgrown bangs out of her eyes.

"You look like you could use a study break." He grinned; putting a book over the work she had been just on the brink of solving. "Why don't you let me treat you to an ice cream? I can even help you with your formulas, if you'd like." He offered, his hopeful smile almost slicing through her deep annoyance.

"Hojo… I don't…" Kagome began, stopping herself short as her mother's warning repeated within the confines of her mind.

 _He wouldn't want you to give in like this._

"Okay." She whispered.

"What?" Hojo asked, blinking back his surprise.

"Okay. Ice cream sounds great." She spoke, neatly stacking her papers back into her backpack before she could change her mind.

A wide smile crossed Hojo's features and Kagome regretted her decision immediately.

XXX

The night was long, and by the time she made it back to the Higurashi Shrine, Kagome was exhausted. Her body ached for bed and instinctively she moved towards the Sacred Tree. Once at the base of its ancient branches, she dropped her bags to the ground and slid her sore feet from her new penny loafers. Gently she moved over the roots, nestling herself into a warn spot where she had spent many a night since being thrust back into her world. After a moment, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Hi, Inuyasha." She breathed.

 _ **But I'm tired of justifying**_

"Where do you think you're going, runt?" Inuyasha growled, watching as Shippo sprinted ahead of him, dodging rocks and foliage as he headed towards the forest that bore Inuyasha's name.

"I thought I could stay with you tonight. Sango's baby cries too much." Shippo whined, grating on Inuyasha's nerves.

"No way. Go back to the village." Inuyasha's tone was firm, demanding.

"But where do you go?" Shippo whined again.

"Yes, Inuyasha. Where _do_ you go every night?"

Groaning, the hanyou turned to face the lecherous monk who had been sneaking along behind them, somehow undetected. "What does it matter to you, Hoshi?" he snapped.

"Every night you disappear into the woods. Every night you claim you're hunting or fishing yet rarely do you ever actually come home with any game to prove how you spent your time." Miroku raised an eyebrow. "So… Where do you go?"

For a moment, Inuyasha contemplated coming up with yet another lie to throw his friend off the chase, but he was just so _tired_. "I'm going to see her."

Miroku's eyes widened. "Through the well?"

The hanyou shook his head, silver locks dancing around his features. "At the tree…" He lifted his gaze, making eye contact with his friend, his amber orbs pleading him to understand. "I just need to feel close to her."

For a long moment, silence fell between them. No one moved or spoke until finally something snapped into place for Miroku. He understood. Gently he scooped down and lifted the little fox demon into his arms. "Happy hunting, my friend." Miroku spoke, his words meaning so much more. Taking a complaining Shippo with him and disappearing down the hill, Miroku vanished towards the village.

Inuyasha stood, still as stone, and watched the retreating forms of his comrades. When they had completely vanished from view, he turned on his heels and headed through the night towards the Sacred Tree. Once at the base, it was as if all the weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Slowly he climbed into the lower branches, bracing his back against the tree's massive trunk.

"Hey, Kagome." He whispered.

 **Author's / Notes:**

 **FeudalWarrior:** That was my main inspiration behind publishing this story; I really wondered what happened during those three years. Obviously this is a short version.


	5. Chapter 5

_**So I say to you**_

"Kagome?"

The small girl shifted comfortably upon the roots of the sacred tree, pulling the new source of warmth around her shoulders. She had recognized her mothers voice immediately, but for just a moment she allowed herself to imagine. She let herself believe that the warmth was not the blanket from the back of the couch but the robe of the fire rat infused with his scent. She pretended that the sounds of cars on the street were demons in the night and that she had never been sent away from the Feudal Era at all.

She only opened her eyes when she felt her mother perch beside her upon the roots of the Sacred Tree. "I know why this place feels so comfortable to you."

Kagome glanced at her mother through large brown eyes, the fantasy she had built in her head slowly dissolving around her. "He feels close." She whispered in response. It was almost as if they were sitting together beneath the Sacred Tree, as if they were separated only by it's girth and not by five hundred years.

"I learned a lesson when I was very young… a lesson that it hurts me to watch you learning now," Her mother smiled sadly, brushing Kagome's long bangs back from her eyes with gentle fingertips.

"What lesson?" the miko asked, pulling the blanket tighter to her body in response to the cooler air.

"You were very young when your father died…" a heavy sigh fell from her mother's lips as she closed her eyes and lifted her face to the morning breeze. "I am so grateful that you and Sota remember so little of those years following his death. But I felt just like you, Kagome. I felt lost. I knew I would never see him again and that hurt more than anything else in the world has ever hurt."

Kagome felt her eyes widening. Her mother barely ever spoke of her father and she never had spoken about his death before.

"I would spend hours in this spot beneath the Sacred Tree just talking to him. The same way you speak to your friends. I thought the whole world had continued spinning and had left me behind it."

"I miss him, too, Mama." Kagome whispered. She tried not to think about losing her father at such a young age but his absence had been felt.

Her mother reached out gingerly opening the locket around Kagome's neck, a fond smile lingering on her lips as she recalled the pure love between her daughter and the boy from the past. "You loved him so much, dear, and I know he loved you so much more. Every time he looked at you, every time you smiled at him. You could just _see_ it. But Kagome…. He's still alive. He's out there and he's looking for a way to get back to you."

Kagome could feel the tears building in her eyes. She could feel the heartache growing. Her mother knew her better than anyone else in the world. The pain of loss bonded them.

"Don't give up on each other." Her mother smiled, wiping a tear from Kagome's cheek as she rose to her feet, turning her attention to the branches of the giant tree. "Do you hear me, Inuyasha? Don't give up on her."

 _ **Come home, come home**_

The door to the well house creaked open, proof that it had not been opened in months. It resisted her only for a moment, just long enough for Kagome to debate giving up going inside at all. Every inch of this place screamed memories that burned deep within her.

One year had passed since the last time the silver haired boy had been within the walls of the well house. One year since Kagome's world had crashed down around her.

The darkness was suffocating. The air felt thick and dead, like the power of the well. It was eerie and haunting and the main reason that Kagome had avoided this place like a plague since he had disappeared into the void.

Her footsteps echoed as she descended the old wooden stairs. The wood groaned and protested beneath her weight but held steady as she moved closer and closer to the well. Stopping just before the hard wood, Kagome allowed her lithe fingers to dance over the harsh old wood on the lip of the well. It smelled of the Feudal Era and the dark haired girl closed her eyes to absorb the familiar scent.

She felt like she was robbing a grave, stealing into a place where she didn't belong. Her heart pounded loudly in her chest, opening her eyes to scan her surroundings for anything familiar. Maybe time had been her punishment. Maybe after a year the well would open and let her pass back through. Leaning slightly, she glanced down into the darkness but felt no pull of time travel. The well was empty, dead, hollowed out by her completed mission.

"I want to come home." She whispered but no tears fell from her eyes. She had spent a year crying, a year pining over what she had lost and now she would make herself strong.

She had no doubt that the pain would continue, that her heart would ache until she died, but she would no longer let herself fall apart at just the mention of his name. She would rise above the sadness that pulled her downward and she would live the life that he would have wanted for her.

"I won't give up on you, Inuyasha." She spoke, her voice stronger and holding more conviction than it had in the last year. "I love you. I'll find a way back to you. I promise."


	6. Chapter 6

_**Cause I've been waiting for you**_

"Are you coming to the Tree with us today, Inuyasha?" Sango asked with a lithe smile upon her lips. It had become a ritual over the months for their group of friends to take a day and picnic near the Sacred Tree. They would spend time together, laugh together, play together and enjoy the peace that had settled over the Feudal Era since the destruction of Naraku.

They all knew well that today was special; that this was the one-year mark of the day Kagome had been taken from them. The passage of time seemed to drag along without them.

Inuyasha only nodded in response, crossing his arms over his chest and tucking his hands into the sleeves of the robe of the fire rat.

"We're down to our last package of ninja food." Shippo huffed sadly. As if the day hadn't already held enough melancholy to drown them all. His gaze rose to the hanyou who was dragging behind the group. "I'll share it with you?" He offered, giving a sad smile to the heartbroken man.

"You can have it, runt." Inuyasha huffed, leaping into the tree and nestling himself into the lower branches where he could see the well and still watch over his comrades.

"Are you sure?" Shippo asked, looking nervously back and forth from Inuyasha to the box of ninja food in his hand.

Inuyasha only grunted in response, his eyes trained upon the well in the distance. Maybe time had been his punishment. Maybe now that a year had passed between them the well would reopen and allow her to pass through.

For hours they sat there, laughing and enjoying the midday breeze while Inuyasha sat sentinel above them his eyes glued to the well.

He would wait for her forever.

 _ **For so long, for so long**_

Kagome took a deep breath, swinging her backpack over her shoulder as she ran from her home and towards the Sacred Tree. Day in and day out, her routine had fallen to be the same. She left in the morning for classes, stayed late for study sessions to make up the time she had lost in the Feudal Era and returned back to the shrine to tell Inuyasha of her day.

A year had passed and though she had vowed to be strong, she still held onto hope that she would return to him one day.

She walked in lazy circles around its base, relishing in the closeness to her long lost friends. Wherever they were, whatever they were doing she hoped that they had found happiness in their lives. She was just about to leave the shrine and head to class when her eyes fell upon something she had never noticed before. Dropping her bag to the ground she moved closer. Scratched into one of the higher branches, higher than she would have been able to climb on her own were three lines of lettering.

Her eyes widened, her heart stopping in her chest as she recognized the lazy scrawling's of the boy she had left behind.

 _ **Year one.**_

 _ **Year two.**_

 _ **Year three.**_

This was his handwriting; she had no doubt in her mind that he had placed those words upon the tree. The only question now was why. What was the significance of three years?

 _ **And right now there's a war between the vanities**_

"Are you alright, Inuyasha?" Sango asked, stepping closer to the base of the Sacred Tree and peeking up through its branches. She could see where the boy had perched himself and hear the sound of shredding bark. "You know tonight's the night of the new moon, don't you?"

The boy only grunted in response. It had been a hard day for all of them, but joining together to laugh and remember the girl they had lost had pushed them through it all. They had stood together and they had remained strong, just as Kagome would have always wanted.

"What are you doing up there?" She asked, brow furrowing as she lifted herself onto one of the large roots of the Sacred Tree to get a better look.

A startled cry ripped from her chest as he reached down and grabbed her by the arm, lifting her off of the root and setting her down on the branch opposite him. "Carving." He huffed.

She blinked back her confusion, steadying herself on the thick tree branch as she watched him dig his claws into the bark. "Carving what?"

"A message."

Sango knew immediately what he was trying to do. He was trying to send a message to Kagome in the future. "What does it say?" She asked, frowning sadly at her friend.

"Year one." He rubbed his hands together as he finished his carving, brushing off all of the small shards of tree bark.

For a moment they both remained silent, admiring the work he had done. It was dangerous for Inuyasha to alter the tree in any way. They both knew well that even the smallest of changes could send a ripple effect through time and change everything about Kagome's world. But this was simple. This wasn't a love letter and it wasn't a name. It was just two words that could have been completely overlooked by the girl from the future.

"Our first year without her?" Sango finally asked.

Inuyasha only nodded. "Do you think she'll know what it means?"

"She's smart. She'll figure it out."

 **Author's/ Notes:**

 **FeudalWarrior:** They have real _faith_. They're getting stronger :]


	7. Chapter 7

_**But all I see is you and me**_

Tossing her bag down upon the ground, Kagome crawled back into the roots of the Sacred Tree. Curling up in its branches, Kagome pulled a book from her bag and flipped through the pages, finally coming to the material she needed to study. Tucked in the binding was a red piece of plastic, a bookmark her mother had bought for her that suddenly reminded her of the Robe of the Fire Rat, the same red fabric that Inuyasha wore day in and day out.

How many times had that robe saved her life? How many times had he given it to her for protection? Her breath caught in her chest, a memory flittering through her mind.

 _Sobbing, Kagome peered over the bright red fabric of the robe of the fire rat, taking in Inuyasha's slightly battered appearance._

" _Heh. My body's built differently than yours. And besides, in the end it turned out that that punk Renkotsu valued his life more than I would have guessed. At the last minute he threw the fire bombs away."_

" _That's what I thought he'd do all along." Koga boasted proudly. "You know the saying? Idiots never die."_

" _Idiots?" Inuyasha glared. "Think you'll get away with that?"_

" _What? You wanna take me on now?!" Koga challeneged._

" _Today's the day. I'm going to put your lights out once and for all."_

" _With that beat up body of yours? Not li-"_

" _Inuyasha!" Kagome cried, throwing herself against the silver haired boys chest. Clutching to him as if her life depended on it, she allowed her tears to flow freely down her alabaster cheeks. "I was worried. Are you really okay? You're not hurt?"_

" _Kagome…" Inuyasha breathed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get you all upset."_

 _Barely pulling back, Kagome glanced up at Inuyasha's battleworn features. "You're not hurt or anything? You're sure you're alright?"_

 _Wrapping his arm around her, Inuyasha pulled her closer. "Yeah…"_

 _Through all the bickering and all of the shots fired between Koga and Inuyasha, Kagome could only focus on the strong feel of Inuyasha's chest beneath her hands, the beating of his heart against her cheek. He was alive. He was here. He was safe._

Keeping her eyes closed, a light smile crossed over Kagome's lips. "You're not hurt or anything? You're sure you're alright?" She whispered.

Lifting her face to meet the soft breeze she could almost hear his voice in the wind.

 _Yeah…_

 _ **And the fight for you is all I've ever known**_

" _You wench! How dare you!" Tokejin cried, barreling towards Kagome with all of his might._

 _He didn't have time to think, didn't have time to rationalize what he was doing. Before Inuyasha could process his movements he was barreling after Tokejin, ready to shoulder the sage off of the cliff. "Get down Kagome!" He cried as his shoulder made contact with the sage, sending both catapulting off of the cliff and into the abyss below them._

 _They made eye contact as his body soared past her, the terror evident in her eyes. "No, Inuyasha!" She cried, leaning over the cliff as she watched him fall._

 _ **Kagome.**_ _Her name was like a prayer in his mind._

" _Inuyasha! Inuyasha!" She cried over the cliff as he disappeared into the darkness below her._

" _Serves you right. Your mortal body will never survive this fall." Tokejin chastised._

" _Maybe not…"_ _ **But at least Kagome's alive.**_ _It was a last desperate wish for her safety. Dying to save Kagome's life was not a bad way to go._

He felt just as close to her here as he did sitting at the base of the tree. He could see her, scantily wrapped in his haori as they hid from the sadistic sage. It was memories like this that kept him going, memories that kept the last three hundred and sixty-five days from eating him alive.

He felt utterly useless without her. His goal from the moment she had stumbled into this world had been to protect her, to right the wrongs done by Naraku. Falling in love with her along the way had been pure luck. Now what was he supposed to do with himself?

He dangled his legs over the edge of the cliff face, his eyes focused out over the sunrise. His dark black hair shifting back into his silver locks as the moonless night ended. Every month he did this to himself, traveled back to the most dangerous night of the new moon he had ever spent and waited for something to challenge him.

Without Kagome being human or demon didn't matter, all he wanted out of life was to be _hers_.

 _ **So come home**_

She was up at sunrise, ready to greet the new year that had presented itself. Three hundred and sixty-five days later, she was finally ready to start _living_ again. Inuyasha was coming for her, her mother had reaffirmed her faith in that. But what was she doing with her life until that? She needed to do more than sit at home and wallow, go to school, study hard and hide from the world again.

She needed to become a real person.

Grasping the box off of her nightstand, Kagome made her way through the Higuarshi Shrine and into the well house. She slid through the darkness with ease this time, reaching the edge of the well without feeling her heart shatter.

"I brought you a gift." She smiled lightly, placing the box of ramen on the lip of the well. "You just have to promise you're going to share it with Shippo."

She sighed. "As if that would ever happen. You'll probably just eat it all yourself and never even tell him I got this for you both." She could practically see Shippo burning with rage as he tried to get a bite of the ninja food Kagome had sent them. How long ago had they run out? Had Inuyasha been mean when hoarding the last of it?

Smiling despite herself, she placed her hands on either side of the small box, leaning her body over the edge slightly. There was still no comforting pull of time travel. The well remained dead. "I'm going to school now… I'm going to go out with my friends after so I'm probably going to be late coming home but that doesn't give you an excuse to waste time. Come get me, okay? Come home to me."

* * *

 **Author's / Notes:**

 **FeudalWarrior:** These chabbles are going to span over three years so it's going to be a very long time :/

 **Animercom:** Thanks for your comment; I'm glad people are picking up on the subtler things I'm adding to these chabbles and I hope you continue to enjoy them as we go futher into the years.


	8. Chapter 8

_**I got lost in the beauty of everything I see**_

Kagome walked slowly down the sidewalks and around the large manmade lake. Her eyes drifted over the flowers and the water as it rippled to and fro. She had spent a lot of time in the parks lately, just enjoying the nice weather. It was a good place to study and to get away from the shrine when her brother was being annoying.

Today, however, she had no destination in mind. She merely wandered to clear her head and enjoy the sunshine.

Ahead of her, she could see a woman and man walking side by side. They pushed a pastel pink stroller ahead of them and were talking in low tones to each other and the small baby they strolled with.

A light smile crossed over Kagome's lips as she followed behind, watching as the man put a comforting hand upon the small of the woman's back. She leaned, almost instinctively against him and her head leaned against his broad shoulder. They looked at peace.

The man steadied her gently before swooping down and plucking a flower from the ground and placing it in the woman's hair. She laughed and so did he as they closed the distance between them and shared a gentle, chaste kiss.

Kagome stopped, her heart beating slightly out of rhythm as she recalled the light pressure of Inuyasha's lips upon hers. She could still feel it, no matter how much time had passed. It was as if their kiss had been hours before and not almost a year and a half ago. Her mind wandered, her hand pressed gently against her lips.

 _ **The world ain't half as bad as they paint it to be**_

"Surprise!"

Her heart leapt from her chest, her hand rising to comfort it. All of her friends, her mother, her brother and her grandfather stood with expectant grins upon their faces. "What's this for?" She asked, cocking her head to the side slightly, a confused smile crossing her lips.

"Don't act as if you don't know." Eri laughed.

"I… don't?" Kagome blinked, looking from person to person. Even Hojo had shown for whatever this intervention was.

"Kagome dear… It's the twenty-fourth…" Mrs. Higurashi laughed lightly.

"Happy Birthday, sis!" Souta shouted, popping a popper in her direction.

"My... birthday?" She had let time slip away from her in the months that had passed and had completely forgotten about her birthday coming up. A light smile crossed over her features. "You didn't have to do all this."

"We even baked a cake!" Eri grinned.

"And brought presents!" Yuka offered.

"And some games." Hojo grinned.

Her smile grew, stepping forward and hugging each of her friends in turn. "Thank you. Thank you all so much."

She hadn't been faking; time had passed so oddly for her since she had been sucked back into her era and she had simply lost track. She had taken note to how strangely her friends and even her mother had been acting but she had completely forgotten her birthday was around the corner.

The day had snuck up on her.

She couldn't remember the last time she had spent her birthday doing anything other than fighting demons and searching for jewel shards… but if she couldn't be with her feudal family and had to be anywhere else, here with her modern family was good enough.

 _ **If all the sons and all the daughters**_

Inuyasha crossed his arms over his chest, narrowly missing the fruit that Shippo tossed towards his face. "HEY! Watch it runt!" Inuyasha howled.

"We should be celebrating!" Shippo smirked, rising to his feet and planting his small hands on his little hips. "Kagome would want us be happy. She would want us to celebrate her accomplishments… wouldn't she?"

Sango lifted her face to the sky, smiling as the breeze blew her hair around her features. "The villagers are all celebrating today. There will be fireworks and sky planes and feasts tonight…. We should celebrate, too. I think Shippo is right. Kagome would want us to be happy."

Miroku nodded his agreement, taking a sip from the filled cup before him. "We should celebrate Lady Kagome's accomplishments."

Inuyasha lifted his face to the sky, breathing in the scent of the forest around him. _Happy Birthday, wench._ He smirked, just imagining the response she would have to him if she were really there.

"We should celebrate life." Sango offered, waiting for the other boys to nod their agreement. "And while we're celebrating life I have an announcement to make." A wide smile crossed over her lips. "I'm pregnant!"

Miroku's smile dropped, his eyes widening. "You're… what?"

"I could have told you that three weeks ago." Inuyasha scoffed, rolling his eyes from his seat in the tree. "Your scent completely changed the night it happened."

Miroku's face had lost all its color. "Pregnant you said?"

"Hey!" Shippo laughed. "You've finally got someone bearing your child!"

* * *

 **Author's / Notes:**

 **LadyCash:** I'm glad you're enjoying their emotions. It was hard to not make them sad all the time, because I think if I were in Kagome's shoes, I'd be sad all the time. But she's such a strong character that I think her faith pushes her through those years.

 **Furostomi-chan:** I'm glad you enjoy them, and I love fruit so having this comparison made me both happy and hungry! I hope they continue to keep you enthralled!

 **FeudalWarrior:** I've read a lot of fanfics where they've completely derailed the lives of my favorite characters because of the downfall of Naraku, so I understand what you mean. But as I said in my response to LadyCash, I really just feel they were such strong characters and they _knew_ no matter what they would find their way back to each other again.

You are all amazing!

Kaasuten


	9. Chapter 9

_**Stop to take it in**_

He nestled himself upon the thick fence that stood outside their home, watching as Sango and Miroku bickered back and forth. His ears pressed back, his eyes flickering between the restless couple; he hung on their every word.

"Well maybe if we spent some more time actually trying to figure this all out you wouldn't be so stressed." Miroku offered, his hands out in front of him in a defensive stance.

"Stressed wasn't the word you used, Monk!" She hissed, hands pressed firmly upon her hips. Sango was out for blood today.

"I'm pretty sure I said stressed. Help me out here, Inuyasha…" Miroku practically whined.

"You said I was bitchy, Miroku. BITCHY!" Sango yelled. "All I'm trying to do is find us a hut that fits us all comfortably and you're calling me bitchy!"

Inuyasha raised a brow and smirked slightly. He remembered the times when he and Kagome had bickered like this, when he would hurt her feelings and she would tell him to sit until an Inuyasha sized crater existed in the ground. What he would give for her to enforce the beads of subjugation upon him now.

"I didn't mean _bitchy_ I meant…." Miroku trailed off, his gaze once again shifting to the silver haired boy on the fence. "Help me."

"This is all on you, hoshi. I'm not the one who called her a bitch." Inuyasha chuckled. "The hut _is_ too small for all of us now." Sango had been searching for a hut nearby that could accommodate her and Miroku and their two newborn babies. She was determined to give Kaede back her hut, though the old woman would probably never be rid of the two demons that had taken up residence with her. Somewhere inside the hut, one of the twins began to cry. "I've got this." Inuyasha spoke, waving the two off so they could finish their argument.

He entered the hut slowly, careful not to disrupt the other sleeping child as he neared the makeshift crib that Shippo and Kaede had constructed. Slowly he tilted it back and forth, soothing out the child as it moved. For a good couple of moments the elder of the twins continued to cry, a grating sound that grated on Inuyasha's nerves. But slowly, her features settled out and sleep reclaimed her.

"Your Aunt Kagome would love you two." He whispered once both babies were deeply asleep again. Taking a seat beside the cradle, Inuyasha returned to the duties he had known well over the years. Those he cared about, weak and fragile slumbered on while he stood sentinel.

 _ **Well hopefully the hate subsides**_

Her feet shuffled, her head hung so her bangs covered her face as she moved through the crowded streets. People shuffled by, but the tired Miko took no notice of them. Her days were growing longer, her all night study sessions becoming harder and though she had dedicated herself to school, she was beginning to miss the academic laziness of being in the Feudal Era.

"Half-breed!"

Her head snapped up, her attention diverted from her long walk home to three small children in the middle of a familiar playground. This was the place where Sounga had almost destroyed her world, the place where Inuyasha had saved her. A small boy sat on the ground, his head in his hands as tears fell down his face.

"Half-breed, half-breed!" The two other children chanted, pointing and laughing at the small crying boy.

She could see Inuyasha as a child, huddled in the woods as villagers and demons alike chanted that mantra at him. Her heart broke.

"Hey! Knock it off!" She yelled, running to close the distance between her and the small child. "Leave him alone! Get out of here!"

The two evil boy's turned on their heels and ran, sprinting away all the while giggling to themselves.

"You think you're so tough! Well you're not!" Kagome yelled, her chest rising and falling. Rocking back on her heels and blowing her bangs out of her face she rounded on the small crying boy. Crouching down before him, she waited for a moment for him to calm himself.

"Thank you, Miss.." he whispered between huffs.

"Why were they calling you half-breed?" Kagome asked, cocking her head to the side.

"Because my Mama isn't Japanese…" He whispered, tears starting to fall from his eyes again.

"Well I happen to know some very strong and very happy people whose parents weren't the same." She grinned, reaching out and brushing a tear from his face. "And I think you're going to be very strong and happy, too."

 _ **And the love can begin**_

Kagome sighed, resting her head in her hands as she listened to her friends babbling across the table at Wacdonalds.

"Are we seriously going to go through his again?" Eri sighed dramatically, throwing a french fry at Ayumi. The flying food missed Eri by a foot, smacking Kagome straight in the forehead.

"Hey!" Kagome snapped. "Watch it!"

Eri smirked, an evil glint crossing her features. "I'm sorry, Kagome… do you not like food in your face?" She asked, throwing yet another fry at Kagome's face.

"Seriously, you're going to get us kicked out." Ayumi pouted slightly.

"Who cares?" Eri smirked, throwing yet another fry.

"That's it." Kagome snapped, a smile crossing over her features. "You're gonna get it!" She scooped up a handful of her fries, chucking them across the table at her friend.

This went on for a few moments, all four girls laughing and throwing things at each other as they just enjoyed the company. It was the first time in God knew how long that Kagome had laughed, and really meant it. It was the gut aching kind of laugh that grounded you to life. It was the kind of laugh that promised that Kagome would be okay.

No matter how long it took for Inuyasha to come and get her.

She would be okay.

* * *

 _ **Author's / Notes:**_

 **FeudalWarrior:** I like to think of them as happy, even though their hearts were missing. I just feel it made more sense for them. And that's not saying I don't like stories where they spiral off the edge... but this just seemed more believable to me.

 **LadyCash:** I loved that line, it just shows the heartbreak. I do like to think that wasn't the last time she saw her mother, too. I'm actually not finished reading the manga though.

 **JessM21:** I'm glad you can almost feel what I'm trying to put them through. I like to make it feel real.

As always, you are a wonderfully beautifully inspiring group of readers

Kaasuten


	10. Chapter 10

_**It might start now**_

He sat in the field, a sentinel in the night protecting the ones he loved. The crickets sang their song; the late night breeze blew through his soft silver hair. He had all but given up on anything eventful happening that night when the scent of wolf flooded his senses.

Koga was before him in a flash, hands upon his hips and long black hair flowing around him in the wind. "Hey there, dog-breath."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "What do you want, you mangy wolf?"

For a moment neither of them spoke, they just stared each other down. It was Koga who finally broke the silence spreading between them. "She's still not come back from her country then?"

Inuyasha merely shook his head. "Not yet."

"What's taking her so long?" Koga huffed, falling down to sit just a few feet away from the hanyou. "You think she'd have figured out by now that you're absolutely pathetic without her?"

"Feh."

"Are you still checking every day?"

Again Inuyasha only nodded.

"She really is your woman, huh?"

Inuyasha's amber eyes widened, his gaze shifting from the starlight to the wolf demon sitting beside him. "What?"

"You heard me. Don't make me repeat myself," Koga huffed arrogantly. "She was never really mine. She always loved you. Not that I will ever understand why."

"You're… giving up?" Inuyasha asked incredulously.

"Not a chance." Koga smirked, rising to his feet once more. "I'm just letting you do all the hard work. So keep at it, dog turd. Bring our girl back."

"Yeah," Inuyasha smiled lightly. "Sure thing, shit head."

 _ **Or maybe I'm just dreaming out loud**_

The branches of the sacred tree sighed out loud against the midday breeze. Everything about this day was beautiful and bright. Nestled in the roots, her head leaning against the trunk was the small dark haired Miko. She breathed evenly, her eyes closed as she napped away the afternoon. Her final exams had been getting the best of her lately, keeping her up at all hours of the night and away from the friends she had grown even closer to. She was lucky to get a moment of peace.

It was funny how almost two years in the Modern Era could change everything for her. Back in her time at Inuyasha's side, her dreams had always been about exams and the friends she had left behind or rather forward. Here, all her dreams stemmed around the Feudal Era and the friends she had made.

"Inuyasha…" She whispered, his name fluttering out into the wind.

"Sit boy." She mumbled, rolling over so her body huddled closer to the large tree.

 _ **But until then**_

She strolled casually beside the three girls who had become her lifeline, her eyes lifted to the beautiful blue sky.

"You're distracted." Eri teased elbowing Kagome gently in the ribcage.

The raven-haired girl flinched but a smile crossed her lips regardless. "I've got a lot on my mind today."

"Of course you do… Exams are coming up soon. We've got to get ready otherwise we'll put ourselves behind for University," Ayumi nodded as if school was the only thing that could possibly be bothering their friend.

"It's a boy, isn't it?" Yuka grinned.

"A boy?!" Eri and Ayumi yelled in unison.

"Tell us all about him!" Eri laughed, looping arms with their friend.

Kagome rolled her eyes and laughed lightly. "No new boy."

"The old boy then? Has your bad boy boyfriend come back into the picture?" Yuka asked and for the first time, Kagome did not flinch at the mention of Inuyasha. Instead, a smile crossed over her features, a knowing and understanding smile. He _was_ coming for her. She was sure of that.

"No. He's busy. I'm sure he'll be back soon then." Kagome admitted honestly.


	11. Chapter 11

_**Come home, come home**_ ,

He glanced down into the well, the darkness that filled it echoing in his soul. Another year had passed, another year that the well refused to allow her passage. Every three days he had traveled to the Sacred Tree, but he always stayed far from the well. The closer he got the hasher his reality became.

Today, however, he placed his hands upon the lifeless lip and lifted himself onto the edge. For a long moment he sat there upon the cold wood and allowed himself to imagine what would happen if the passage through time opened for him. How would she react to his presence?

Would she remember him? Would she be happy to see him? Had she missed him as desperately as he had missed her?

He pushed himself off the edge, falling into the well before landing with a huff upon the hard ground. Two years and still the well remained sealed to him. He didn't move, he didn't try to get himself out of its dark depths. Instead he knelt in the dry dirt, his fingers lazily combing through it before with one fluid motion he pounded his fist against the ground. It was so familiar; the ache that had settled over him two years ago when he had first realized the well would not let him pass through. "Come home, Kagome…" he breathed. "You've been gone for long enough… It's time to come home."

 _ **Cause I've been waiting for you**_

"Two years…" She breathed, her legs dangling over the edge of the well as she sat upon its lip. "I can't believe it's been two years." She could almost see him sitting there upon the edge, could almost feel his hand upon the small of her back. She had been so sure that defeating the jewel would be the last part of her heartbreak. She never could have imagined that she would be left alone for two years.

"I can't remember the sound of your voice anymore," she whispered. "It comes and goes in waves but when I really need to hear you… I can't."

The sadness was waving through her. "I need to know you're okay, Inuyasha. I know you're coming back for me, but you're taking such a long time. I miss everyone."

This was the day she would give into the heartache, the one day she would allow herself to grieve. "I miss Shippo and Sango and Miroku. I miss Kaede and Kouga and Kohaku… I even miss Sesshomaru and Rin and Jaken!"

The tears were brimming her eyes now, though she fought to hold them back. She couldn't lose herself, not after all her work to keep herself together. "I miss you the most, Inuyasha. I miss you so much it hurts… Why haven't you found your way back to me yet?"


	12. Chapter 12

_**For so long, for so long**_

"Year two?"

Her voice startled him out of his thoughts, his heart hammering in his chest. Inuyasha had gotten so comfortable by the Sacred Tree that he had yet again let his guard down. He was lucky this time around; lucky that it was Sango and Shippo stalking up on him and not a predator who wanted to end his life.

"Do you think she knows by now what it means?" Shippo asked, hopping up the branches and coming to sit beside Inuyasha. He watched as the half-demon scrawled yet another set of letters upon the bows of the Sacred tree.

"She's smart. I'm sure she'll figure it out." He spoke, shrugging his shoulders.

"What if you just keep doing this forever? What if a hundred billion years pass and still she doesn't come back?" His question was filled with his childish innocence but still it raked across Inuyasha's wounded heart.

"That's stupid. She's only five hundred years ahead of us, idiot." Inuyasha huffed, slamming his fist against the side of the kitsune's head.

"Ow! What was that for?!" Shippo cried out, jumping to sit on Sango's shoulder as he rubbed his head. The taijiya gave Shippo a warning look, silencing the small boy.

"She's going to figure it out." Sango smiled, "And she's going to come back to us. Neither of you will need to wait five hundred years to find her again."

Inuyasha flinched slightly at the implication of her words. She was careful with the way she said _neither of you_ and not _none of us._ It was there, hidden deep beneath her words; Inuyasha and Shippo both stood a chance of finding her in the future if the well never opened again… Miroku and Sango would never get that chance. Their bodies were human and they would die long before Kagome's time came to pass.

"Sango's right, kid." Inuyasha huffed, brushing off his hands and admiring his handiwork. "Kagome's coming back to us."

 _ **And right now there's a war between the vanities**_

"It's his handwriting, isn't it?"

Kagome jumped slightly at the sound of her mother's voice, almost toppling over to the ground. She had dug an old ladder out of the shrine early that morning, before her trip to the well, and had leaned it against the tree. It was just the right size to get her up onto the branch that Inuyasha had undoubtedly been sitting on when he scrawled the words into the bark.

"Yeah." She whispered, her fingers dancing across the crude letters.

"What does it mean? Year One. Year Two. Year Three?" Her mother asked, crossing her arms over her chest and looking up to where her daughter straddled the tree branch.

"I don't know. It could mean a lot of things. But somehow I know he meant it for me. Why else would he write it on the tree? This is _our spot_ , Mama." She emphasized her words, hoping her mother would see the connection as clearly as Kagome could see it now.

"I believe that. He's trying to tell you something. The question is… what?"

Kagome closed her eyes, her fingers braced against the wood. _What do you want me to know, Inuyasha?_


	13. Chapter 13

_**But all I see is you and me**_

Shippo sneezed loudly, brushing his nose against the fabric of his sleeve. Another sneeze and another, the sure sign that a cold was coming on. He could hear the rustling of the rest of his group but his gaze focused only upon the fire as the flames licked the sky.

 _Again she sneezed, rousing him from his place against the far wall. "Put this on so you wont get cold." He offered, draping his Robe of the Fire Rat around her shoulders._

" _Thanks." She sneezed again._

" _Too late." He smirked slightly. "You've already caught one."_

" _No… Someone's probably just gossiping about me." She murmured, sneezing again._

 _Lifting his hand he placed it gently upon her forehead. "Don't be ridiculous. Who would ever gossip about you?" Moving his hand against his own forehead, he felt the temperatures were about the same. "That's good. You don't have a fever."_

 _She leaned her body against his shoulder, relaxing against him. "Thanks, Inuyasha. Thanks for looking after me."_

" _Ah…" He began nervously, feeling her body warming against his. "You're starting to get warm."_

 _She chuckled lightly. "It's okay. Don't worry."_

Shaking his head he tried to rid himself of the memory. Nights like this always reminded him of the small girl. Even in a crowded room he could feel her presence, her memory weighing upon him in everything he did.

Again Shippo sneezed, rolling over so his back was pressed against Inuyasha's leg for comfort the way the Kit had once done with Kagome. With one hand Inuyasha reached over and gently patted the boy. Their presences comforted each other.

 _ **And the fight for you is all I've ever known**_

" _Kagome get away from him! You'll be killed!" Shippo warned, bounding from foot too foot in emphasis._

 _Clutching tighter to his chest as the hanyou snarled above her, Kagome closed her eyes and finally admitted the words she had been too afraid to say before, "I love you as a half demon, Inuyasha!"_

" _To be honest, I like you just the way you are. There's nothing wrong with staying just the way you are._

" _Inuyasha! Inuyasha! I love you. I love you as a half-demon."_

 _His snarling only intensified, his body practically trembling under the effects of Kaguya's control. "Whats the matter, Inuyasha? Why the hesitation?" She asked, repeating her chanting as Inuyasha dug his sharpened claws into Kagome's arms._

 _She whimpered, but the pain was nothing compared to her fear of losing him._ _ **How can I stop his transformation?**_ _Slowly she pushed herself up onto her tiptoes, ignoring the pain of his claws dug deeply into her flesh._

" _Free the beast of carnage that lives inside you. And once you are a full-demon bring me the flesh of that girl." Kaguya encouraged._

 _ **Inuyasha… you want to stay with me… don't you?**_

 _Her lips gently pressed against his, summoning him with her sheer will of love to return to him._

 _Slowly his claws pulled from her flesh, his touch becoming kinder, softer, and gentler as his lips pressed against hers._

"Why did we have to come all the way out here again, sis?" Souta asked, huffing as he finished the hike she had practically run. "Are we going swimming?" He asked, the eager tone to his voice intoxicating.

"No, we're not going swimming." She smiled lightly, gazing out across the water. This was the place where she had finally admitted she loved him.

"Why are we all the way out here, sis?" Her little brother practically whined.

"You can go back to the car with Mama, if you want." She offered, patting his head gently. "I just need a little time with Inuyasha." She breathed, lowering herself down to the ground at the edge of the lake, her eyes skimming the water.

Once her brother had disappeared back down the path, she let her fingers gracefully dance across the cool water. "I love you," she breathed.

 _ **So come home**_

"This isn't easy, you know." He huffed, his back pressed against the bone-eaters well as he sat upon the cruel earth. "You've got a job to do here and it's not easy having to pick up the slack for you."

When no one answered, he leaned his head back and closed his eyes. "You sure are taking your time, Kagome." He breathed to the nothingness that surrounded him.

* * *

 **Author's / Notes:**

 **FeudalWarrior:** Yes, the engravings are a marker for the passing of time. He writes on the tree every year on the day she disappeared as a notation for how long he waited for her. So for the sake of this story, if the well never opened again he would meet her 500 years later. Obviously he would have to wait for the well to close on her side because it could mess up their time line from his past, but if Inuyasha lived long enough he would find her again.


	14. Chapter 14

_**Everything I can't be is everything you should be**_

Kagome walked slowly down the center street towards her home. Everything seemed to be in slow motion today, her heart in her chest, her attention stuck in the memories she had made over the last two years. _Maybe this was my fate all along…_ She wondered, her eyes down cast as she made her way through the streets.

Before she really knew what was happening, a young girl was screaming. Her eyes shot up into the distance to where a man, dressed in all black, was running down the street towards her. He clutched a woman's purse in his hand.

It didn't take long for her to realize he had stolen the screaming girl's bag, and it took even less time for her to decide she needed to do something about it. She needed to stop him; needed to be the hero she had been every day she had lived in the Feudal Era. She needed to be a miko.

"Hey! You! Stop right there!" She demanded, a stern look plastered over her features.

But the man just smiled, he continued to run and as he charged his way past her, he shouldered her into the hard wall of the building to her left.

Kagome cried out in pain as her shoulder hit the wall, clutching at her arm as she watched the man run off further down the street. Angry tears welled in her eyes as her reality sank in; Kagome had never been the strong one. She had piggybacked on the success of her friends and Inuyasha's brute strength.

Here in the modern world… Kagome was useless.

 _ **And that's why I need you here**_

She made her way slowly up the shrine steps, sighing with ever step she took. This wasn't the life she had imagined for herself, nor was it the one she would have chosen. She wanted to go back to the Feudal Era, she wanted to save people and fight demons and make something of herself other than a High School student. She wanted to be someone again.

She lowered herself onto the roots of the Sacred Tree, rubbing gingerly at her sore shoulder. "I don't know why I ever thought I could have done anything," she sighed in agitation. "I never had any special qualities. You knew that all along. You told me from the very beginning that I was a stupid and useless girl and I refused to believe it. Living in a Feudal Fairytale with you I completely convinced myself that I was stronger than I really am."

"But what can I do here? My spiritual powers mean nothing in the Modern World if there aren't demons. I can't purify a mugger and clearly my brute strength is less than threatening." She hung her head, breathing in the thin air around her. "I need you, Inuyasha." She whispered. "You make me strong."

 _ **Everything I can't be is everything you should be**_

"KAGOME!"

Inuyasha's eyes snapped open at the sound of the kitsune's cry, his eyes searching the room for any sign of danger. He sat still as stone, gripping Tetsusaiga in preparation to attack. "What the hell was that?" Inuyasha huffed.

Shippo looked petrified, his chest rising and falling rapidly as tears began to fall from his cheeks. "I saw Kagome."

"She's in her own time, you didn't see her." Inuyasha sighed, leaning his head back against the wall.

"She was dying." Shippo cried, balling his little fists at his side. "The Meido took her and she couldn't breathe and she was dying and there was nothing I could do to get her back."

Inuyasha stared at the kitsune, his eyes wide as he watched the sorrow filter across the small boys face. "She didn't die, Shippo. I saved her from the Meido. I took her home to her own time and she's living safely with her own family in the modern era."

Shippo did not look placated. "Then why doesn't she come back to us? If she's really alive and really okay then why doesn't she come back? Doesn't she love us anymore?"

"Shut up." Inuyasha huffed. "She can't come back and you know it."

"But doesn't she love you? Doesn't she want to be with you?" Shippo asked through his tears.

"We don't always get what we want, Shippo." He huffed, rising to his feet and exiting the hut into the dark night air.

 _ **And that's why I need you here**_

 _I don't know how to do this…._ Inuyasha thought, brushing his hand through his thick silver hair as he relished in the cold night air. _This is your territory, Kagome._

The darkness seemed so terrifying, blanketing him in his loneliness as Shippo's words repeated in his mind. "I know you'd be here if you could," he spoke, leaning against a fence and gazing up at the stars. "But I'm no good at this. Life without battle, life without Naraku… I knew it was going to come someday but I never thought I would have to do it without you. I'm not a good person, Kagome. Not without you. I can't do the family thing, I can't be the villager living an ordinary life. I only know how to run from things that want to kill me and dodge the hateful glares of people who want me dead… I need you. You keep me sane."


	15. Chapter 15

_**So hear this now**_

 _Why did the well stop working? Was it because of the feelings I had? Did I do it? When the bone-eaters well disappeared and I was left stranded alone in the darkness I felt so scared and sad. What I didn't realize at the time was that I'd been in the darkness for three whole days. Poor Mom, grandpa and Souta. With me gone they felt as scared and sad as I did. I felt really bad about what I put them through. And I was just so happy to be back here. I felt so relieved and then the well closed._

 _Inuyasha… Ever since then I can't stop thinking that maybe the reason I went to the Feudal Era and the reason the well stopped working after the Shikon Jewel disappeared is that my job was done. And I'm meant to spent the rest of my life in this world. A world without you. But Inuyasha, I want to see you._

Kagome took a deep breath. "What are you trying to tell me?" She asked, her voice barely a whisper as she gazed at Inuyasha's scrawling. "Three years. Three years of what!?" She could practically taste the agitation in her voice.

"What are you trying to tell me? I've waited two…" Her eyes widened. "Years. I've waited two years!" Suddenly it all made sense. She noticed the writing on the tree two years ago because that was when Inuyasha had first decided to scrawl it upon the branches. Three years. It had been three years since she had first been taken from the Feudal Era.

"It's a countdown." A wide smile crossed over her lips. "It's a countdown!"

 _ **Come home, come home**_

Inuyasha walked slowly through the village, watching as children darted around him, dodging around his legs as they played their games. Somewhere in the distance he heard Shippo yell something about being _ready or not_ before the small Kitsune darted out into the fray of children.

The hanyou pretended he wasn't watching them, but he was. He glanced at the children out of the corner of his eye. They darted around each other, trying to dodge Shippo and his fox magic as he reached for them. The game was familiar, he had watched the children of his home village play it when he was a child. Because he was part demon he had never been invited to partake in the games, but it brought a sense of completeness to watch the small children in Kaede's village so willing to accept the small fox.

The adults nodded to him respectfully as he passed, a sign that he had finally found a place where he belonged. He was no longer hated or feared or looked down upon with disgust. This was his home.

Slowly he made his way to the boughs of the Sacred Tree, etching in the last of his messages to Kagome. Year Three. The words echoed in his heart, aching deeply into his chest. How many more times would he write on the tree? How much longer would she make him wait for her?

They had formed a family, they had formed a comradeship together and they all needed her back. Shippo needed her, Sango needed her, Miroku needed her… even he needed her desperately. So why was she taking so much time coming back to him?

He glanced down at the lifeless well. "What could you possibly be doing for three years? What could be so much more important than all of us?" He knew he was becoming bitter, knew his heart was blaming her for something she couldn't control.

"Are you happy?"


	16. Chapter 16

_**Cause I've been waiting for you**_

"Kagome?"

She whipped around, brushing her bangs out of her face as she gazed at her nervous looking mother. "What's wrong?"

"Mom," she breathed, a smile capturing her lips. " _The sky."_

"Mom, I…I've been thinking…" Kagome whispered, shifting nervously from foot to foot. Her decision had already been made.

"Kagome… I understand." Her mother smiled reassuringly.

 **Xxx xxX**

"A countdown. It's a countdown!" Kagome laughed, she could feel the hope burning in her as she threw item after item into her long forgotten yellow backpack. Clothes, bandages, ramen, picture frames, and all sorts of other necessities she knew she would need for life on the other side of the well. If she was right, if Inuyasha had been warning her how long it would take for her to return, then this could be the last time she stood in her bedroom and the last time she enjoyed the creature comforts of the Modern Era.

She ran back to the well standing anxiously before it with her heart hammering in her chest. The familiar yellow backpack weighed heavily upon her shoulders. "You're going to be okay, Kagome. You're making the right choice."

"Send us a postcard, won't you?" Her grandfather teased.

"What if I can't come back through the well again?" She whispered, turning from the wells edge to look at her mother and the rest of her Modern family. "What if I never see you again?" But even as she asked the question, she knew her heart had already been decided. She had spent fifteen years with this family and she would love them until the day she died. Now she wanted Inuyasha.

"Just go, Kagome," her mother urged, a light smile upon her lips. "You've kept him waiting long enough."

"Hnn." Kagome smiled, tears rimming her eyes as she leapt over the edge of the well. "Please work." She mumbled, squeezing her eyes shut as the familiar pull of time travel rippled through her.

 _ **For so long, for so long**_

 _This scent… there's no mistake!_ He thought, running through the short grass in the Forest of Inuyasha. He would not let himself get too over excited; Kagome couldn't be back… could she?

Slowly he approached the lip of the well, his heart racing as he glanced into it and was greeted with her lightly smiling features. His heart mended, righting all the wrongs that he had suffered the last three years as he reached into the well and pulled her gently from inside.

"Inuyasha, I'm so sorry… were you waiting here for me?" She asked, holding tightly to his hand as if she were afraid he'd disappear if she didn't, her other hand braced gently on his shoulder.

"Kagome. You idiot. What have you been doing all this time?" He asked, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tightly to his chest.

"Kagome!" Shippo called.

"You made it back!" Sango smiled.

"It's been much too long Kagome!" Miroku grinned.

"Miroku, Sango, Shippo! It's good to see you!" She smiled brightly, running towards their small group of friends. He stood a small ways back, watching her move as if she were another one of his visions, sure that if he took his eyes off of her for just a second she would vanish in a whisper of wind.

 _She's really here…_ He breathed deeply, allowing her natural scent to lull him into a sense of security.

* * *

 _ **Author's / Note:**_ This is not finished yet. I still have a few more chabbles to post :]


	17. Chapter 17

_**And right now there's a war between the vanities**_

"Where are you going?" Sango asked, looking up as Kagome gathered herself from the field they were pulling herbs from.

"I just need to go for a little bit of a walk. My legs are getting tired," Kagome smiled reassuringly.

"Just don't wander too far." Sango warned, returning to pull the necessary herbs from the ground.

As the small miko wandered, she lifted her face to the breeze and allowed it to comfort her. It had been six months since her return to the Feudal Era and everything had felt so natural. She had been whisked back into her old life as if she had never left in the first place. She spent long days with Kaede and was learning all about being the village priestess.

A few weeks after her return, she had attempted to jump through the well to no avail, landing roughly upon the bottom. She had resigned to her life in the Feudal Era without much disappointment; after all, she had always known it was a possibility she would never return to her modern family.

Her heart stopped in her chest when she realized her rambling had led her to the well. Gently she brushed her hands over the wood, remembering the last time she had stood on the other side of the magical portal. _I made the right decision._ She reassured herself. _I love Inuyasha. This is where I belong._

"Kagome…"

She snapped her head up, her eyes meeting the warm topaz orbs that always made her melt. "Inuyasha," she grinned lightly.

"Are you happy here… with me?" He asked, shuffling nervously as he watched her. "Do you wish you had stayed on your side of the well?"

"This is my side of the well," she said, giving him a stern look. "You are my side of the well." She knew it sounded ridiculous, but by the way his ears perked up she knew he understood her meaning. She slowly made her way around the lifeless well so she was standing right before him. "I'm happy."

"I love you," he spoke, blushing lightly. They were not words he threw around lightly.

"I love you." She whispered, pressing her lips gently to his.

 _ **But all I see is you and me**_

He watched her with cautious eyes as she dipped her bare feet into the water by the stream. "You're tired." A statement, not a question.

"Yeah," Kagome yawned. "Kaede has me working pretty hard these last couple months."

"You should take a break." He huffed, sitting beside her on the dry earth.

"Isn't that what we're doing now?" She asked, raising an eyebrow and smirking at him.

"I mean a real break. Like a vacation or something." He stated, shrugging his shoulders. "We could get out of the village for awhile."

Kagome's brow furrowed. "I would need a good excuse for Kaede to let me out of training for any more than a few hours." She sighed.

"What if you got married?" The words were off his lips before he could stop them.

"Married?" She asked, looking slightly taken aback.

"Oi. Don't look at me like that," He huffed, his cheeks tinting. "It was just a thought. Don't act like it's such a disgusting proposition."

"A proposition?" She asked, a light smile crossing her lips. "Is this your brutish way of asking me to marry you?"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "No. Why in the hell would I do that?" He huffed, rising from his spot.

"Inuyasha, wait!" She grinned, scrambling to her feet and grasping at the edge of to robe of the fire rat. She knew she stood no chance against him, if he wanted to escape her he could, but he stood still as stone. "I think I'd like that… a vacation I mean," she smiled knowingly. "You'd be willing to help me?"

He turned, narrowing his eyes and looking at her funny. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever wench."

"We'd have to make it believable with a whole big party and everything. You might even have to write some vows to make sure she believes us and we might even have to get rings. Are you sure you're up to all of that?" She asked, her heart racing in her chest.

A light smile crossed his own lips, turning so they were face to face now. "Just shut up, will you?" He smirked, tapping up her chin gently and capturing her lips with his.

* * *

 **Author's / Note:**

 **FeudalWarrior:** So I haven't read the ending to the manga yet, so I'm not sure how that ended. But in the anime you never see what happens between Kagome's mother telling her she understood and Inuyasha pulling her out of the well. So I just made my own spin on it and had her bring some stuff back with her. In this rendition of it the bag just stayed at the bottom of the well while he pulled her out :] Just a little filler fluff.

Only one or two more chabbles to go :]


	18. Chapter 18

_**And the fight for you is all I've ever known**_

"I now pronounce ye husband and wife," Kaede grinned, motioning to the pair before her. "Kiss her, ye nitwit." Kaede teased him as Inuyasha crossed the distance and pulled Kagome into his arms. The kiss was gentle, loving, and filled with all the emotion of the afternoon. The whole exchange was foreign to him; human marriage customs were strange. Demon law would not marry him and Kagome until he marked her and they bonded as mates. There were no big parties for _that_.

"I love you," she breathed against his lips.

"I love you, too." He grinned, steadying her as his ears twitched. A loud roar emanated from deep within the Forest of Inuyasha, rattling the trees that lined their village.

"A demon?" Kagome asked, her smile only growing.

"We couldn't get one day of peace?" Sango asked, exasperated. "You're going to ruin your kimono." Kagome had insisted on a short white kimono that would be easy for her to move in while she had convinced Inuyasha to give up the robe of the fire rat for a day to wear a traditional black kimono instead.

"It's just an outfit, Sango," Kagome grinned, grabbing at her bow and arrows as Inuyasha knelt down before her so that she could climb onto his back.

"Do you two want us to go with you?" Miroku asked, shaking his head at the misfortune of the day.

"Don't bother. He smells like a weakling. By the time you slow bastards got out there we'll have wasted him already." Inuyasha huffed gruffly, taking off towards where the demon came from. "You sure you want to come with me?" He asked as he sped off towards their opponent.

Kagome reached up, tweeking one of his ears affectionately. "Slaying a demon on our wedding night? How more _us_ could that get?" She grinned. "This is our life now, you know. Equal partners." She notched an arrow and pulled back the string. She heard the clink of metal as Inuyasha unsheathed his Tetsusaiga.

"You better hold your weight then, wench," Inuyasha smirked, pulling back his sword and preparing to let the wind scar loose.

"Go!" She cried, a wide smile on her features as both released their attacks in tandem.

 _ **Ever known**_

"Inuyasha?" Her soft voice roused him from his light slumber. Kagome had been spending most of her days with Kaede, learning what she could about becoming the village priestess. Most days he would lounge around the hut or follow Miroku to perform exorcisms and make money for their village. Today was one of his lazier days. "I'm exhausted."

He could smell it on her the moment she entered the hut, the difference to her scent that he had never noticed before, that he hadn't noticed earlier that morning when she had sleepily shuffled out of their hut. Rising to his feet, his brow furrowing, he crossed the distance towards her. His nose wiggling slightly, he sniffed the air around her, sticking his nose in her hair and breathing deeply.

"What are you doing?" She giggled lightly as the tip of his nose touched the ticklish part of her neck.

"You're…" He took a half step back, looking at her with wide and disbelieving eyes.

"I'm what?" She asked, the look on his face scaring her slightly. "What's wrong with me?" She asked, brushing her hands through the hair he had been sniffing lightly.

"You're pregnant." He whispered.

"I'm… what?" She asked, her hands flying instinctively to her stomach. "You can smell _that_ on me?"

"Hnn." He nodded, his shock slowly wearing off. "Are you… okay with that?" He asked, nervous that she would reject him and his child.

"Pregnant…" she whispered, her own shock fading from her features. "Inuyasha!" She grinned, throwing herself into his arms and kissing him passionately. "We're going to be a family!" She grinned, clutching to him desperately.

* * *

 _ **Author's / Notes:**_

Just one more chabble left... *tears*

 **LadyCash:** So the reason I put the thing about the rings there is actually my own personal take on Inuyasha's love for Kagome. Rings may not be a part of the Feudal Era but they are a big part of Kagome's era. In my head, Inuyasha would complain about it but don't you think he would go to the ends of the earth to make sure Kagome had everything she ever wanted? Couldn't you just see him giving one of his fangs to Totosai to make a ring or even blowing up half of a field using his adamant barrage to get a diamond for her like he did to her family's shrine when trying to fix her bike?! *insert fangirl sigh here*


	19. Chapter 19

_**So Come Home**_

Inuyasha rubbed the exhaustion from his eyes as he followed Miroku back into their village, his ears perking up slightly as the sound of bell like laughter drifted from his hut. "Sounds like Kagome didn't have any luck tonight, either," Inuyasha chuckled, shaking his head slightly.

"She's still awake?" Miroku asked, frowning slightly as he glanced around the village. Almost every fire was out and there were barely any sounds coming from the huts they passed. Usually when their trips brought them home this late at night their mates were long asleep when they returned.

"Sounds like it," Inuyasha huffed.

"The little one still giving her trouble?" Miroku asked, stopping at the path that would separate them. Inuyasha would go left to return to his wife and Miroku would go right to return to his.

"The little bastard never sleeps," Inuyasha laughed, waving slightly to his oldest friend as he headed home. A few moments later he paused outside of his hut and listened to the sounds of his family inside.

"But Mama. I don't want to go to sleep," a bell like voice whined from within, but he recognized the sound of a yawn amidst her words.

"Your father isn't going to be happy with either of us if you're still awake when he gets home," Kagome chastised, but even he could hear the sound of a smile on her voice.

"I'll pretend when he gets here." The first voice huffed, a tone so similar to that which Inuyasha usually used.

"Do you really think you could fool him?" Kagome asked.

"You pretend to be asleep all the time and Grandma Kaede believes you!"

"That's because Kaede doesn't have your fathers hearing or his sense of smell." Kagome scoffed.

"I want to stay up all night like you and Daddy do."

"Izaiyo," Kagome huffed, her voice holding irritation now. "I really think it's time to get to bed. You'll wake up your brother."

"He could sleep through a demon attack," Izaiyo huffed in return.

"Why do you always give your mother such a hard time?" Inuyasha chuckled, entering the hut.

"Daddy!" He knelt down as the small girl catapulted herself into his arms, watching as she moved with graceful steps. She was small, only five years old, with his long silver hair flowing down her back. Her skin was a soft alabaster but her ears were human like her mothers.

"Why aren't you asleep?" Inuyasha asked, trying to look stern.

"I want to stay up all night like you and Mommy do." She spoke through a yawn, giving away her real desires.

"Not tonight." He lifted her into his arms, carrying her into a separate room towards her cot.

"Tomorrow night?" She asked, her eyes already drooping.

"Maybe." Kagome interjected. "Goodnight, sweetheart."

"Goodnight Mama. Goodnight Daddy." Izaiyo whispered, curling up on her cot as Inuyasha tucked her in.

"Is the little bastard asleep, too?" Inuyasha asked, smirking down at his wife as he rose back up to his full height.

"For the last few hours, yes." She sighed in contentment, wrapping her arms around her husband's waist. "Maybe if we're quiet he'll stay that way."

Wrapping his arms around Kagome's slender frame, Inuyasha peeked into the crib that rested beside Izaiyo's cot. Inside, swaddled in blankets and sucking on his thumb, was a small boy no more than a few months old. His hair was long, as his father's had been when he was born, but was a dark jet black like his mother's. Atop his head sat two very soft looking black ears. Contented with the fact that his pups were safe, he lifted his wife into his arms.

"We'll be quiet then," he teased playfully, carrying her out of the children's room towards where their cot was nestled near the fire.

"I missed you," she breathed, nestling her nose into the crook of his neck.

"I was only gone two days," he huffed, smiling lightly as he settled down upon the floor, holding her gently in his lap.

"Two days too long." She spoke, nibbling on her bottom lip.

"Oi, stop that." He smirked, using his thumb to free it from her teeth.

"What if I don't want to?" She grinned mischievously before once again nibbling upon her lip.

"Kagome," he growled in what was meant to be a menacing way, but the smile upon his lips was less than threatening. "Stop."

"Make me," she grinned.

The hanyou pushed forward, dropping her off his lap and onto the ground as he closed the distance between them. She let out a shriek as she fell, giggling as he caught her lips with his in a playfully passionate kiss.

These were the moments she lived for. Her husband's strength to keep her safe, a playfulness between them even after six years, a passion still burning within them and her children sleeping peacefully in the next room.

As if on cue, the baby began to cry.

"So much for quiet." Inuyasha smirked.

"So much for staying asleep," Kagome groaned.

"I'll get him," He kissed her nose gently as he rose from their spot on the floor and disappeared into the small room set aside for their children. Quickly he approached the crib, careful to remove the small baby before he could wake his slumbering sister.

"Stop making all that noise, would ya?" He whispered. "That's got to hurt your ears as bad as it hurt mine."

As soon as the small child had been lifted into his Inuyasha's arms, he quieted immediately. His large liquid topaz eyes gazed up at his father.

Quietly Kagome padded over to the wall, leaning against it as she listened to her husband speak softly to their son.

"Now listen up, brat." Inuyasha huffed. "Your Mama and I need some time alone and you need lots of sleep so let's make a deal here. You give me tonight and I'll make sure to hide all these nasty pink blankets so that your Mama will stop emasculating you. Sound good?"

As if in response the small child in his arms cooed.

"Good. I'm glad we understand each other." Inuyasha smirked, instinctively rocking the baby gently in his arms.

Slowly Kagome padded across the floor. She knew immediately that Inuyasha heard her coming just from the way his ears twitched in her direction, but he made no move or sound to acknowledge her. Gently she leaned her cheek against his shoulder blade, wrapping her arms around his waist as he continued to comfort their child.

For a moment she was quiet, breathing in his natural scent and relishing in the way his body swayed as he rocked their baby. The silence was only broken as Kagome began to hum, a soft and sweet lullaby her mother had sung to her when she was smaller than Izaiyo.

"I love you," Inuyasha spoke; his voice soft and quiet as they lulled the baby to sleep.

Kagome smiled, never stopping her soft humming, as she gently pressed herself tighter against him in response.

 _ **The End.**_


End file.
